“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise as they go by” Douglas Adams (Author of the HITCHHIKERS GUIIDE TO THE GALAXY)
Actually, being the sort of guy who worries about deadlines, and gets really upset when publishers and editors don’t reply in a reasonable time – like, you know, 20 minutes, there are a few things that are less true for me. YMMV.
That is not to say I do not suffer as much as the next author from procrastination. Have done some of the horrendous jobs rather than face the manuscript again. Part of that is, well, I love my books. Every one is finished, and I put it out there, thinking: “Surely this must be the one the entire world loves even half as much as I do?”
So far, they have let me down. And you reach a point where you really don’t want to go through it again. I still can’t bring myself to say ‘Ok another pot-boiler’ and keep churning. I have to keep trying. But a novel is for me a long-haul job which I eventually get finished. And then, inevitably, love. I don’t have deadlines, because selling on proposal just got me very irritated (see the 20 minutes thing). The trouble is sort of need them, because it keeps me from deciding to clean the sewage pipes instead just sitting down to another 1000 words. “The job needed doing – many of the jobs on building the house do, but so does writing.
So: in a way, having a possible deadline for a short in a collection I was invited to contribute to, and wanted to, badly (mostly, I don’t)… worked well. They asked for about 10 K, I provided that, it took me less than 10 days, and… I LOVE the story. LOVE the characters, love the concept… and of course, the editor hasn’t got back to me. It’s been 20 minutes dammit! (well, a day or two). I know, I know. It’s Christmas/New Year, there are probably dozens of others sitting in the inbox. Hell, for all I know the project may have fallen through. It happens. It also happens that the editor doesn’t like the story, even if I love it. (If they don’t use it, I’ll file the serial numbers off it and make it into a book. I liked it that much).
The waiting is of course the bad part, but the good thing about it is that the deadline pushed me to get it finished. Pushed me to remember how much I do love my books. So I decided I better subject myself to a deadline to finish the current one. I’m 70K in. I was aiming for 50K ;-/.
Do deadlines work for you? Or against you?
Mad Genius Club 
7 responses to “Deadlines”
I won’t say I NEED a deadline, but it sharpens the attention greatly. If it’s written on spec, or without a deadline, I always have other things to do, that take precedence, because “they can’t wait.”
The way my head works, if I have a deadline, is that “no, this can’t wait, we have a delivery date to catch, fuck that other stuff.
The can work for me, if they give me a hard “do it by this date or don’t do it.” That way I can budget my time and attention better.
At other times, especially when a deadline is dropped onto me from above (so to speak), they make me freeze, which does not help me get that particular thing—or any other thing—done.
“Do deadlines work for you? Or against you?”
I sell finished work only. I do not worry about taking a day, a week or a month off of “Project” because of “Reasons,” whatever those might be at any given time. If I didn’t need to do it, I’d still be working on “Project.”
I’m not saying this is the best way to do things, or even a good way, honestly. But it is my way.
The most problematic category of work for me is, “Important but not urgent,” and writing without deadlines falls into that. Yes, I need to get some writing done. I need to write the outline for the next novel, finish these chapters, get those bits edited…but it doesn’t really matter if I do it today or tomorrow or next week. So when something that is an immediate crisis comes up, writing is often what gets pushed back so I can deal with it.
Deadlines move writing into the “important and urgent” category, which gives me the ability to tell people, “Look, I’m sorry you need help, but this must be done by Tuesday. I’ll assist you after that if you still need it.”
an outline:
a) I dunno
b) LOL
c) I have extremely mixed results. i) I easily fail to overpreparing, and in that mode do not actually start until I panic from stress ii) stress can paralyze me.
d) recent updates on my scope and deadline may have been part of the push I needed.
e) I constantly wrestle with focus problems, and with not immediately wandering off to chase a shiny, an easy, or a psychological hit
f) we shall see
I hate applying for positions, and find it stressful.
I’ve gotten back in the saddle, and am checking possibilities well in advance of having it confirmed when I need to move on.
I got a turned down feedback today, which is good because I didn’t wait long. I just need to keep my eyes open, and to not let the fears paralyze me.
Deadlines work for me. Big time. I set a goal of always meeting a deadline.
Turned in the manuscript for a book today: text, interior illustration, captions, and instructions for the artist and map makers. It was due on 2 January, so I was early.
Last week I did not think I would get it in by 2 January, but a book containing critical information arrived Friday and allowed me to finish the final remaining unfinished section.